Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has flayed the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

“This is not the first such incident. Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power at the Centre, it has unleashed central agencies against its political opponents. Manish Sisodia has consistently worked for the improvement of the education system in the national capital and has created a new model for the nation to follow,” said the SP chief, who is also the leader of opposition in the state assembly.

“The way the BJP government has treated the opposition leader is shocking. The opposition leaders are being targeted by the Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. This is being done to influence the next Lok Sabha election. The government has launched the vendetta to hide its failures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no solution for unemployment and rampant inflation and the government is privatising all assets of the nation,” Akhilesh Yadav said.

Akhilesh Yadav charged that the UP government was not willing to accept the gravity of the problem of unemployment. “UP Governor Anandiben Patel in her joint address to the state legislature said there was only 4 per cent unemployment in Uttar Pradesh. The governor’s statement implies that over 90 per cent of the youth of UP have got employment and only a small fraction is without jobs; can this statement be relied upon,” Akhilesh Yadav said.

“Moreover there is no let up inflation; be it LPG cylinders, milk, pulses, wheat flour, the prices are rising. Look at the top industrialist who has lost Rs 20 lakh crore in less than a month and LIC and State Bank of India have heavily invested in the companies of that industrial house. The government should institute inquiry into the investment made by the LIC and the SBI,” the SP chief said.

On the murder of Umesh Pal allegedly by the gang of don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad in Prayagraj, Akhilesh Yadav said “it is a big conspiracy and is closely related to electoral politics of Uttar Pradesh”.

“UP election is a big event. UP decides the national politics and also decides the prime minister. Murder of Umesh Pal is a big conspiracy. I have learnt that a leader of the BJP minority cell is also involved in the incident,” Akhilesh Yadav said.

“I am sure the people of UP will never tolerate the mafia gangs. The chief minister said in assembly that he will decimate the mafia gangs. Yogi Adityanath government is reluctant to release the list of the top 10 mafia gangs in the state. I had made this demand in the state assembly, the government seems to be unwilling to release the list,” he said.